This invention pertains to an improvement in a pressing iron comprising a soleplate, an electric heater, which is arranged to heat the soleplate, and an electronic control, which includes a thyristor controlling energization of the electric heater and tending to emit heat, other electronic components tending to be affected adversely by heat, and a cooling plate being mounted to dissipate heat from the thyristor, which may be a triac.
As exemplified in Gebrauchsmuster 1,972,915 of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is known in a pressing iron for a controlling element, which may be a triac, and other electronic components of an electronic control to be mounted on plates within an elongated chamber, which is insulated thermally from a soleplate, which is ventilated preferably, which is formed in a hollow handle, and which is disposed so as to extend upwardly above a rear portion of the soleplate in normal operating position of the pressing iron. Similarly, it is known for an adjusting element to have an adjusting stem, which extends operatively through an aperture in a rear wall of the handle, and which carries an adjusting knob having a setting indicator. One disadvantage of such an iron is that the elongated chamber entails special tooling costs in production of the handle.
Another disadvantage is that a triac or other controlling element conducting substantial amounts of current emits substantial amounts of heat near other electronic components, which are affected adversely by heat. If the triac or other controlling element is mounted to a cooling plate, heat radiating from the cooling plate has an adverse effect on such electronic components.
Accordingly, there has been a need, to which this invention is addressed, for a pressing iron having an electronic control to be designed so that heat emitted from a triac or other controlling element conducting substantial amount of current would not have an adverse effect on such controlling element, or on other electronic components, and would not present a risk of burns to a user, or to an ironing surface.